14 June 2016

Googler, Dasha, announced in a Google Maps Help thread that they made a major update to their spam algorithms to block spammy reviews in Google Maps.

Dasha
said that Google "made some recent improvements to our spam detection
algorithms that have increased the number of reviews that appear on some
local Google+ pages."

What changes specifically? She lists a ton
of guidelines one can follow to be sure not to trip the spam filters.
The guidelines are:

For reviewers:

Make sure you've taken a look at our review content guidelines.

Sometimes you may want to review multiple locations of the same
business, such as your favorite fast food chain. Just remember to tailor
each review to the specific location. Others will want to know what
sets that location apart - be it the super friendly drive thru person,
or maybe the unexpectedly awesome lake views.

Don't write reviews for your current employer. We don't allow reviews from current owners or employees.

Spam bots use URLs to redirect to other sites or potentially spread
malware. We won't show reviews with links, so, don't put URLs in the
text of your reviews

For business owners:

Be wary of an SEO or reputation management service that promises
to generate reviews for your business. We've seen companies make up
fake glowing testimonies -- and we'll take them down.

We don't take down negative reviews for simply being negative for
anyone, regardless of any other relationships with Google. Instead, we
encourage you to utilize the owner response functionality to respond to
the review and address the user's concerns.

If a third party claims that they know how to remove reviews from
Google, don't believe them. Google does not work with any third party
reputation management companies and we certainly don't remove reviews
unless they violate our guidelines.

Don't set up a computer or tablet device in your place of business
for customers to leave reviews on site. Consider sending a reminder
e-mail so customers can review on their own time.

Remember, we don't allow you to give customers free gifts or discounts for leaving reviews.

For SEOs:

If a business accepts paper comment cards it might be tempting
to collect them and "digitize" them by posting the reviews on Google+
Local. We ask that all reviews come from first hand experience and do
not allow posting reviews on behalf of others.

For everyone:

If you see a review that violates our policy guidelines, you can
report the review to us by clicking on the gray flag icon next to the
review in question. You'll be taken to a form where you can tell us why
you're flagging that review. Please note that we won't follow up with
you individually, but we do review every piece of content that is
flagged.